Oh my lord, I don't know how they can keep one upping themselves! This is on its way to be one of the best TV shows ever. Just when you think you know where it's going it pulls the rug under you. Absolutely astonishing performances. This is looking to join the all time greats. Best ongoing TV show right now. I was literally jumping from excitement while watching. I can't believe they somehow matched the season 2 finale. This is truly something special, it all came together so wonderfully, I feel like i'm watching TV history right now.
Kendall, unexpectedly, was back so soon, walking in on a very prophetic game of monopoly, after that crazy ending last episode. All these water scenes are symbolic in some way, and I thought it was going to be his resurrection, but maybe it wasn't as simple as we thought. In the beginning of the season we see that Kendall was trying to bathe in the bathtub but it was empty, like a false cleanse. Compare this to the beginning of Season 2 where he actually bathed in a pool. In Season 2 Kendall actually seems to win, but in this season he doesn't. Meanwhile this episode he got his true cleansing completely dry in the dusty ground with his siblings. Is there more to this? We'll see.
So much stuff happened this episode. Connor finally stood up for himself in a great scene where he shows he really is the eldest sibling. It's kind of a running joke he's always forgotten so I thought it was great he stood up for himself. Really been loving more Connor this season. Good for him getting married, though with the way relationships work in Succession... not sure it's going to end well. Especially as we see later in this episode. But he's in an interesting position for next season being the only Roy sibling not to go against his dad.
Greg has been showing his darker side recently giving up his relationship with Comfry for the Duchess (I think that was her title?) cause that gives him more potential for power, wow... I think we really dug deeper into the characters here. I found it really funny when in the end he asked for his own little Greg's. Remember when Tom was unraveling from the possibility of prison and told Greg about Neros and Sporos? All the pieces were there from the start. I think we're seeing his further descent into the corruption of the Roy family, and he'll probably become one of the most despicable characters by the end of it.
Last episode gave us a lot to chew on, especially with their mother, which had a surprise moment this episode. The only possible criticism I could think about this season is that some of the side characters felt a bit underused, like Kendall's kids are kind of an after thought, which I suppose makes sense for the character, but we could've gotten more with them, and I would've liked some more Stewy for example. At least we got a new great one as Alexander Skarsgard was a great addition to the cast, loved how he played Waystar, for a second I thought Kendall had a deal with him. He had an excellent scene with Logan where we see just how competent he is and planting the seed for Logan's betrayal towards his kids, we see how Logan respects Mattson more than he'll ever respect his children. I hope to see more of him next season. There seems to be a lot of deleted scenes too from the trailers and BTS stuff we've heard or seen. I hope to see some of these scenes eventually, but I digress.
Then we had the confession scene from Kendall, man Jeremy Strong can't keep getting away with it, stealing all the awards from all the other actors. The siblings finally coming together, being truthful and truly nicer to each other, with that haunting but brilliant dark humor, the wonderful exploration of language and communication that makes Succession so great. For once there's no deception, I love how they found it hard to believe, just the siblings trying to be real to each other for once, standing together. What a great shot too, supporting each other in a triangle formation, only for that formation to be destroyed in a later shot.
Honesty at this point I was thinking there's no way it's actually happening, they're finally going to stay true to the show's title?! It almost seemed too easy right? And BAM! Of course it was. They walked into their parents shagging. Brian Cox as Logan was legendary in this scene, "You're playing toy soldiers!" Mocking Shiv was funny yet deeply painful as I personally related to it, and then the the final straw revealing even their mother betrayed them. I honestly did not expect this ending, I didn't think they'd succeed either, but the way it was handled was just so exciting and tense. Easily one of the most memorable TV twists in a while! All the actors gave it their all. Logan emphasizing that he won, like this is a game to him. Like was mentioned in Season 1, he's so jealous what he's given his kids, he wants them to make their "own pile." The build up with these last 3 episodes has been insane, making for the best run of episodes in the show yet! It all came together.
Oh my lord Tom... he did it. He actually did it. There's some brilliant irony at play here. When Roman asks Logan for love, Logan reacts as expected, absolutely baffled, and ends with a classic "F OFF." Love never worked on Logan, but you know on who love would've worked on? Tom. He wanted was Shiv's love, and because of Shiv's actions in the previous seasons with their painful rocky relationship, in the moment of truth Tom gave up his own wife to get himself at the top, and all Shiv had to do to stop this was give Tom the love that she couldn't get from her dad. Wow, just wow... He even got Greg with him! Tom warned us too, he told Kendall he'd bet on Logan because he's never seen him be screwed like Kendall always is. Tom even called the lawyer since episode 3! Also does that mean Tom sent the donuts?! Kieran Culkin really got his moment to shine here acting wise, you could tell the pain with his popping forehead vein. The fact that Roman finally stood up for his siblings when before he'd always retreat back to father, each season has had the siblings mess up their shot at succession, season 1 was Kendall, 2 was Shiv, and now 3 was Roman, which makes me wonder if maybe 4 will be Connor's chance. "You have my word." Logan says. Was he really giving Roman a chance, could he be trusted for once?! That's what makes this so impactful.
The best part of the season is how it all comes together in the form of honesty, and the lack of proper communication between the characters because of the way they were raised. Succession has always been interested in the exploration of language, communication, and our struggles with it in the modern day. The characters can never take something truthfully because they've been raised in a world filled with deception and manipulation. All the characters hear each other, but they're not listening, because if they would, they would've known where this is going. Kendall sang the song about honesty for a reason. Remember when Gerri previously told Roman to look out for how his choices serve his position? She went for her interests. Tom literally told Kendall he'd bet on Logan. Even their mother talked about changing the divorce arrangement in front of Shiv and she didn't notice! If they would've listened to Kendall in episode 2 they could've won, but now it's too late. All they had to do was listen, not just hear. I wonder if this is connected to the plot in Season 2 changing the tagline from "We're listening" to "We here for you." It took Kendall almost dying for them to finally listen to him. A lot of people were complaining about the middle of the season, how it was slower, going nowhere, but I always knew it would all fit together in the end, and it did. I'm sure there are far more details I missed that parallel and all build up to this amazing episode. This Is just so well structured and brilliantly handled. That's what you get when the writers plan out everything in advanced. I have no idea where they're going next, but I have full trust in the writers. I feel like looking back on the show I'll appreciate it even more. Ending on that final shot of Tom holding Shiv completely flipping their power dynamic was just perfect and haunting.
Thank you Jesse Armstrong, your writers team, the director, the amazing cast, the crew, HBO, everyone for giving us another masterpiece of a TV show. Already in my top 10 with just 3 seasons. This season and episode were all timers. Let's not forget to praise Nicholas Britell's amazing music, and the cinematography which deserves more praise. I've been watching the Dexter revival as well soon after these episodes since they air at the same time, and the gap in quality isn't even funny. The best episode of that season so far still isn't as good as the weakest episode of this season. I like that show, I don't want to bash it, but it just shows how Succession is on a whole other level than almost anything on right now. Only other show that is close to it currently for me is Better Call Saul, but even that has now been surpassed by Succession for me. Honestly, I can even see Succession making my Top 5 in the future, it's just become one of my favorite shows so quickly, and it's easily the best show on TV we've had in years. This episode is now at a 9.9/10, and it's totally deserved. It's very close to becoming HBO's new holy Trinity among The Sopranos and The Wire, I just cannot believe this. I witnessed a masterpiece in the making live on TV, what an experience.
Kendall, unexpectedly, was back so soon, walking in on a very prophetic game of monopoly, after that crazy ending last episode. All these water scenes are symbolic in some way, and I thought it was going to be his resurrection, but maybe it wasn't as simple as we thought. In the beginning of the season we see that Kendall was trying to bathe in the bathtub but it was empty, like a false cleanse. Compare this to the beginning of Season 2 where he actually bathed in a pool. In Season 2 Kendall actually seems to win, but in this season he doesn't. Meanwhile this episode he got his true cleansing completely dry in the dusty ground with his siblings. Is there more to this? We'll see.
So much stuff happened this episode. Connor finally stood up for himself in a great scene where he shows he really is the eldest sibling. It's kind of a running joke he's always forgotten so I thought it was great he stood up for himself. Really been loving more Connor this season. Good for him getting married, though with the way relationships work in Succession... not sure it's going to end well. Especially as we see later in this episode. But he's in an interesting position for next season being the only Roy sibling not to go against his dad.
Greg has been showing his darker side recently giving up his relationship with Comfry for the Duchess (I think that was her title?) cause that gives him more potential for power, wow... I think we really dug deeper into the characters here. I found it really funny when in the end he asked for his own little Greg's. Remember when Tom was unraveling from the possibility of prison and told Greg about Neros and Sporos? All the pieces were there from the start. I think we're seeing his further descent into the corruption of the Roy family, and he'll probably become one of the most despicable characters by the end of it.
Last episode gave us a lot to chew on, especially with their mother, which had a surprise moment this episode. The only possible criticism I could think about this season is that some of the side characters felt a bit underused, like Kendall's kids are kind of an after thought, which I suppose makes sense for the character, but we could've gotten more with them, and I would've liked some more Stewy for example. At least we got a new great one as Alexander Skarsgard was a great addition to the cast, loved how he played Waystar, for a second I thought Kendall had a deal with him. He had an excellent scene with Logan where we see just how competent he is and planting the seed for Logan's betrayal towards his kids, we see how Logan respects Mattson more than he'll ever respect his children. I hope to see more of him next season. There seems to be a lot of deleted scenes too from the trailers and BTS stuff we've heard or seen. I hope to see some of these scenes eventually, but I digress.
Then we had the confession scene from Kendall, man Jeremy Strong can't keep getting away with it, stealing all the awards from all the other actors. The siblings finally coming together, being truthful and truly nicer to each other, with that haunting but brilliant dark humor, the wonderful exploration of language and communication that makes Succession so great. For once there's no deception, I love how they found it hard to believe, just the siblings trying to be real to each other for once, standing together. What a great shot too, supporting each other in a triangle formation, only for that formation to be destroyed in a later shot.
Honesty at this point I was thinking there's no way it's actually happening, they're finally going to stay true to the show's title?! It almost seemed too easy right? And BAM! Of course it was. They walked into their parents shagging. Brian Cox as Logan was legendary in this scene, "You're playing toy soldiers!" Mocking Shiv was funny yet deeply painful as I personally related to it, and then the the final straw revealing even their mother betrayed them. I honestly did not expect this ending, I didn't think they'd succeed either, but the way it was handled was just so exciting and tense. Easily one of the most memorable TV twists in a while! All the actors gave it their all. Logan emphasizing that he won, like this is a game to him. Like was mentioned in Season 1, he's so jealous what he's given his kids, he wants them to make their "own pile." The build up with these last 3 episodes has been insane, making for the best run of episodes in the show yet! It all came together.
Oh my lord Tom... he did it. He actually did it. There's some brilliant irony at play here. When Roman asks Logan for love, Logan reacts as expected, absolutely baffled, and ends with a classic "F OFF." Love never worked on Logan, but you know on who love would've worked on? Tom. He wanted was Shiv's love, and because of Shiv's actions in the previous seasons with their painful rocky relationship, in the moment of truth Tom gave up his own wife to get himself at the top, and all Shiv had to do to stop this was give Tom the love that she couldn't get from her dad. Wow, just wow... He even got Greg with him! Tom warned us too, he told Kendall he'd bet on Logan because he's never seen him be screwed like Kendall always is. Tom even called the lawyer since episode 3! Also does that mean Tom sent the donuts?! Kieran Culkin really got his moment to shine here acting wise, you could tell the pain with his popping forehead vein. The fact that Roman finally stood up for his siblings when before he'd always retreat back to father, each season has had the siblings mess up their shot at succession, season 1 was Kendall, 2 was Shiv, and now 3 was Roman, which makes me wonder if maybe 4 will be Connor's chance. "You have my word." Logan says. Was he really giving Roman a chance, could he be trusted for once?! That's what makes this so impactful.
The best part of the season is how it all comes together in the form of honesty, and the lack of proper communication between the characters because of the way they were raised. Succession has always been interested in the exploration of language, communication, and our struggles with it in the modern day. The characters can never take something truthfully because they've been raised in a world filled with deception and manipulation. All the characters hear each other, but they're not listening, because if they would, they would've known where this is going. Kendall sang the song about honesty for a reason. Remember when Gerri previously told Roman to look out for how his choices serve his position? She went for her interests. Tom literally told Kendall he'd bet on Logan. Even their mother talked about changing the divorce arrangement in front of Shiv and she didn't notice! If they would've listened to Kendall in episode 2 they could've won, but now it's too late. All they had to do was listen, not just hear. I wonder if this is connected to the plot in Season 2 changing the tagline from "We're listening" to "We here for you." It took Kendall almost dying for them to finally listen to him. A lot of people were complaining about the middle of the season, how it was slower, going nowhere, but I always knew it would all fit together in the end, and it did. I'm sure there are far more details I missed that parallel and all build up to this amazing episode. This Is just so well structured and brilliantly handled. That's what you get when the writers plan out everything in advanced. I have no idea where they're going next, but I have full trust in the writers. I feel like looking back on the show I'll appreciate it even more. Ending on that final shot of Tom holding Shiv completely flipping their power dynamic was just perfect and haunting.
Thank you Jesse Armstrong, your writers team, the director, the amazing cast, the crew, HBO, everyone for giving us another masterpiece of a TV show. Already in my top 10 with just 3 seasons. This season and episode were all timers. Let's not forget to praise Nicholas Britell's amazing music, and the cinematography which deserves more praise. I've been watching the Dexter revival as well soon after these episodes since they air at the same time, and the gap in quality isn't even funny. The best episode of that season so far still isn't as good as the weakest episode of this season. I like that show, I don't want to bash it, but it just shows how Succession is on a whole other level than almost anything on right now. Only other show that is close to it currently for me is Better Call Saul, but even that has now been surpassed by Succession for me. Honestly, I can even see Succession making my Top 5 in the future, it's just become one of my favorite shows so quickly, and it's easily the best show on TV we've had in years. This episode is now at a 9.9/10, and it's totally deserved. It's very close to becoming HBO's new holy Trinity among The Sopranos and The Wire, I just cannot believe this. I witnessed a masterpiece in the making live on TV, what an experience.